The demon seed

NONG KHAI: An elderly man turned himself in to Srivilai District police on the morning of September 4 and shocked officers by confessing to the August 20 murder of his own son. Kane Manorat, 70, left the monkhood after seven years to protect his family from his 38-year-old son Boonpeng, a glue-sniffing addict from the age of 15, whose sick behavior included raping his own sister and elderly mother. Kane entered the monkhood seven years earlier to free himself of the mayhem in his life caused by his son – after Boonpeng raped his younger sister, causing her to flee to Bangkok. The elderly man entered the police station accompanied by his 62-year-old wife Khammee, who broke down in tears as she told officers how she had been repeatedly raped at knifepoint by her son over the last seven years – ever since her husband entered the monkhood, leaving her to cope with Boonpeng on her own. “‘I am your mother. I gave birth to you,’ I would tell him while he was raping me, high on glue. But all he would do was laugh maniacally and say, ‘I came from inside you, so why can’t I go back in?'” she said. The parents explained that Boonpeng was the third of their seven children. He had been trained as a mechanic and even spent two years in the monkhood. After that he got married, but his wife eventually left him after he kept stealing money from neighbors and using it to buy thinner. After huffing the solvent, he would run amok in the village, terrifying everybody. He had been in prison many times, but even that failed to straighten him out, said his long-suffering parents. Not even barnyard fowl were safe from his depravities. “He used to pick up a chicken or duck and hold it by the wings. Then he would and use the other hand to close off its windpipe so it wouldn’t make too much noise. Then he would rape it violently until he reached orgasm. Thinner, it appears, affects the brain more quickly than it does one’s libido. “When he finished, sometimes the bird would still be alive and sometimes it would be dead. “Either way, he would then toss it on a fire and eat it, without even bothering to pluck it or remove the intestines first,” his parents said. But Boonpeng’s reign of terror came to an end on August 20, when his father saw him sitting in a hut in a field behind their house huffing thinner from a three-liter can. When Kane ordered him to stop, Boonpeng attacked him, kicking him off the dyke between two paddy fields where he had been standing. As he rushed to continue his attack, Kane drew a .38 revolver and fired a warning shot. That did nothing to stop the demented Boonpeng, who continued his charge. Kane then shot him five more times, enough of the bullets hitting Boonpeng to kill him on the spot. The elderly man then dragged his son’s body back to the house. The next morning he reported that Boonpeng had been murdered – neglecting to mention that he himself was the killer. After the body was cremated, however, the former monk’s conscience caught up with him and he decided to turn himself in to the police. He was released on bail after posting a Chanote land title valued at 400,000 baht. Pol Maj Khwantong Fonglom said, “In this case, if K. Khammee had reported that her son was raping her, it might never have gotten to this point. But I understand why she didn’t, because of the great shame it would have caused.” He said he sympathized with the family, but under the law he had no choice but to charge Kane with murder. Public defender Mano Thongban of the Thai Law Association said that the only way Kane could avoid life imprisonment – or even capital punishment – would be if the court decided he acted in self-defense.

JetSki crashes into shop in Kamala, Phuket

Not often we get to write this headline… “JetSki crashes into shop in Kamala”.

The jetski was being towed by a Saleng (motorcycle and side-car) through the streets of Kamala this afternoon when, for reasons we don’t yet (probably brake failure), the whole shebang went AWOL and ended up running into the front window of some tourist shops.

The jetskis are a common sight going through the backroads of the various west-coast shopping areas at the start and end of each day, on their way to the beach to hire to tourists, usually in a convoy with the jetski staff riding shotgun on top.

This time it was a lone JetSki, being towed by a saleng, that somehow veered off the street and into the roadside Kamala shops.

China has the most atheists. Indonesia and Philippines the most believers.

China is the least believing country in the world but belief in a God gets 100 per cent mention in countries like Indonesia, Bangladesh and Philippines, according to the survey by Gallup International.

According to the survey exploring religious tendencies of 66,000 people in 68 countries across the world, 62 per cent of people in the world define themselves as religious, 74% of people globally believe we have a ‘soul’ and 71% believe in a God. Another 56% believe in heaven, 54% in life after death and 49% in hell.

China has the highest percentage of atheists in the world with 67% not believing in any religion. Every seven out ten people are atheists, more than double than any other country. 23% consider themselves as non-religious. Less than 10% identify themselves as religious in China.

China’s atheist percentage is followed by Japan, a long way behind in second place at 29%, Slovenia (28%) and Chech Republic (25%). Despite rapid industrialisation and urbanisation religion has stayed relevant in the South Korean region with only 23% identifying as atheist.

European countries like Belgium (21 %), France (21%) , Sweden (18%) and Iceland (17%) also have a large percentage of believing population.

Bangladesh, Indonesia and Philippines are the most believing countries with entire population claiming to believe in God, soul, hell and heaven. Thailand and Pakistan have 99% believing population, followed by India, Vietnam and Mongolia.

The survey shows that the levels of religiosity diminish as income and education levels increase. While 66% of people with low income affirm to be religious, this percentage drops to 50% among people with higher incomes. The same trend is verified in relation to education levels: 83% of people with lower education level are religious against 49% of higher level.

According to the survey there is a connection between religiosity, beliefs and socio-demographic characteristics like age, income and education level. As education and income levels grow higher, religiosity levels tend to go down. Also, the expression of different beliefs is higher among young people.

The level of education has a considerable influence on the perception of religion by the society. Women and young children show higher percentage for spiritual forces.

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